According to the results of a new Censuswide survey of 500 senior managers and business owners published by specialist tax relief company Catax, three quarters of small and medium-sized British firms in the food manufacturing industry are likely to be eligible for Research & Development (R&D) tax relief.

A significant majority (74%) of senior managers and business owners at smaller UK food manufacturing firms say they’ve spent time and money ‘developing a new product or business process over the past three years’ — the basic requirement for an R&D tax claim.

This means that around three quarters of businesses involved in food manufacturing, from producers to packaging companies and their suppliers, could be due a sizeable tax windfall.